The Analy varsity football Tigers capped an impressive
pre-season campaign on Friday, with a convincing, 41-28 win over
visiting Santa Rosa.
At first glance, the Tiger¹s 13-point margin of victory looks
like nothing to write home about, but in reality the game was far
more lopsided than it appears. Analy built a commanding, 28-6
halftime lead and played its second and third string units in the
second half before settling for the modest victory.
³Our second and third team guys work hard in practice all week
and deserve to get in the game,² said Analy head coach Chip
Castleberry. ³I thought our offense really clicked, and we could
have held them to no more than a couple of touchdowns if we¹d
wanted to.²
The Tigers were virtually unstoppable on offense in the first
half, scoring on four of their five possessions. Senior quarterback
Nick Maloney moved the team downfield with surgeon-like precision,
connecting with big-play receivers Nick Johnson, Kyle Molkenbuhr,
Daniel Albert and Alex Houlemard.
Maloney also did the job with his legs, ripping off a 63-yard
run on the Tiger¹s first possession to set up a four-yard scoring
burst from Cameron Cook. Juan Moreno followed with the PAT boot for
a 7-0 Tiger lead. Late in the first quarter, a fumble recovery by
Houlemard set up an eight-yard keeper by Maloney and the Tigers led
13-0 at the end of one.
Early in the second quarter, a good punt return by AJ Fox had
the Tigers smelling blood near midfield. A few plays later, Maloney
found Albert on a big first-down play to the Panther 38, and the
pair hooked up two plays later on a 16-yard touchdown strike. Cook
ran in the conversion for a 21-0 advantage. Santa Rosa answered
with a 42-yard scoring strike from quarterback Rylan Thew to
Thurman McGowan, cutting the deficit to 21-6.
The Panthers gambled and lost on a fourth down play at the Tiger
43, giving Analy a last possession with just 1:09 left in the half.
Maloney wasted no time in moving the team downfield, mixing a nice
run by Fox with completions to Albert and Houlemard. The drive
culminated in an 11-yard scoring bolt from Maloney to Houlemard for
a decisive 28-6 lead at the break.
In the third quarter, Maloney found receivers Albert and Brian
Friedman on scoring passes of 26 and three yards respectively,
giving the Tigers an insurmountable 41-6 bulge at the end of three.
The Tigers emptied their bench in the final period, with all 40
players on the roster eventually seeing action in the game. Santa
Rosa took advantage, scoring three more touchdowns in the fourth
quarter to eventually fall, 41-28.
Maloney ended a brilliant night with 13 completions for 203
yards and four touchdowns passing, and added seven carries for 75
yards and a touchdown on the ground. Other offensive leaders
included Albert (5-102 yards receiving, 2 TDs), Houlemard (3-55
yards receiving, TD) and Molkenbuhr,(2-25 yards receiving), Cook
(4-12 yards rushing, TD) and Fox (4-22 yards rushing).
Leading defenders were Josh Cota (6 tackles, 3 assists), Dominic
Patrick (3 tackles, 5 assists, 1.5 sacks), Mike Crivello (4
tackles, 2 assists), Nestor Torres (3 tackles, 2 assists), Wells (3
tackles, 6 assists), Mike Paggi (2 tackles, assist), Kyle DiTommaso
(3 tackles), Luis Santiago (tackle, 3 assists), Juan Moreno
(tackle, 2 assists), Molkenbuhr (2 tackles, assist), Rob Burns
(tackle, assist, sack) and Malcolm Townsend (2 assists, sack).
The Analy JV fell to Santa Rosa, 28-14.
